The Catholic Church should scrap the requirement for priestly celibacy
It would help it recruit clerics who do not abuse children
The pope is not in the habit of taking advice from newspapers. After all, the Roman Catholic Church takes instruction from the creator of the universe. Nonetheless, Pope Francis has opened up a process whereby all 1.4bn Catholics can have a say about the future of the faith. If they want to reduce the scourge of sexual abuse by priests, they should demand an end to the rule requiring priestly celibacy.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Let priests wed”
Leaders July 16th 2022
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- The Democrats need to wake up and stop pandering to their extremes
- Japan should stay true to Abe Shinzo’s vision—up to a point
- Britain’s Conservatives seem oblivious to the coming budget crunch
- What to do now about tomorrow’s code-cracking computers
- The Catholic Church should scrap the requirement for priestly celibacy
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